A Warning for Baby Boomers

The Wall Street Journal reports (Dec. 14, 2011 at pg. C1) that securities regulators and prosecutors are “battling … a nationwide surge in investment fraud against baby boomers.” Today’s older workers, unlike their parents, will be reliant on their own 401k portfolios in their retirement years. Although the stock markets rebounded somewhat since the crash, the DJI is still 15% below its 2007 peak, causing many people on the cusp of retirement to grasp for higher returns. Securities regulators report “rampant” abuses. Like hunters shooting prey on baited fields, slick-talking salesmen hawk promissory notes, real estate deals, gold mines, and oil wells to unsuspecting seniors grazing at free-lunch seminars. During our many years of representing defrauded investors, we’ve noticed that when interest rates are especially low – as they are today – many people fall victim to promises of higher yields. It’s heart breaking to hear the stories of people who have saved all of their working lives only to lose their hard-earned savings due to fraud. Be careful out there. Just because they’re holding a fountain pen instead of a gun doesn’t mean they aren’t trying to steal your money.

For more information, please see the following Wall Street Journal article: